Secure State Cyber: The importance of antivirus software and contingency planning for vessels

The final article in our cyber risks series, produced in collaboration with Secure State Cyber, focuses on the benefits of antivirus software, the importance of contingency plans in the event of a cyber-attack and what actions Members can take to ensure good security practice on board their vessels. What are the benefits of employing antivirus software and why does it need to be kept updated? The main purpose of an antivirus software is to check devices for viruses. Antivirus software achieves this by running scans on devices and looking for known viruses which are stored in its database. Cyber criminals are updating and re-configuring their virus every day with over 300 million new viruses having been created in 2018 alone. Therefore, for the antivirus software to look for the newest viruses, it must be regularly updated. The benefits of having an updated well configured antivirus software are: Detection: The user will be notified if a virus is active on a device. Prevention: The device will be quarantined.